Conduit-railway.



No. 634,623.` Patented out. no, |399- M. p. LAw.

CONDUIT RAILWAY.

(Application med Jun. 12, 1899.)

(No Nadel.)

l. I l

ATTORNEY UNITEDA Y' STATES Pn'rinir -f OFFICE.

MYRON D. LAW, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO THE LOVE ELECTRIC TRACTION COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

-ooNDulT-YRAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 634,623, dated October 10, 1899. Application tiled J' anhary 12, 1899. Serial No. 701,910. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, MVYROND. LAW, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Conduit-Railways, of which the following is a full, clear,-and exact description.

My invention relates particularly to the means for supporting the electric conductors :o from the slot-rails, and has for its object the providing of such means as shall permit the conductor to be easily adjustable toward or from thecenter of the conduit and be otherwise advantageous. This constructionis pari 5 ticularly valuable in cases where a cable-road is being converted into an electric road for the reasons hereinafter specified.

The accompanying drawings illustrate an embodiment of my invention, in which*- Figure 1 is a cross-section of the conduit, showing the slot-rails and conductor-supports carried thereby. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same on the line .fr-,Fig l.

Fig. 3 is a view of the rail and support from 2 5 below,

One of the greatest difliculties encountered` in converting a cable-road into an underground-conduit electric road is that during the time the changes are being made the opgo erations of the grip and cable are interfered with by the electric conductor and its snpports when the same are in proper position for use. The result is that the operation of the road as a power-road has to be suspended completely, at least from the time the first conductor-supports are applied until the last one is applied, and sincethis application of4 the supports and the attaching of the conductors thereto necessarily takes some days, if not 4o weeks, the cars on the road during that period have to be abandoned or drawn' by horses, greatly to the inconvenience yand loss of the public and company. My invention makes it possible to operate the road as a cable-road practically without interruption during the time it is being converted.

Referring to the` drawings, A A represent the slot-rails of a conduit attached to the yoke-pieces in any ordinary manner.

5o B B are the sides of the conduit.

C C are covers to hand-holes arranged as is common at intervals along the track. Beneath each cover through the foot of the slotbeing a section on the line y fg, Fig. 2.

o rail pass bolts D D, securing thereto the baseplate E of the'conductor-support.V This base- 5 5 plate has slotted holes G G, through which the bolts D D pass, permitting an adjustment of the support toward or from the center of the conduit. Attached to the base-plate are two projections H H, supporting two parallel 6o rodsll h, which support a slide I, which in turn directly carries the conductor K, thus permitting a slight movement of the conductor relatively to the point at which the support is fastened to the seat-rail, andwhereby 6 5 it in a way adjusts itself longitudinally.-

W'ith this construction described and shown it is plain that the supports and conductor can be applied to the slot-rails, so as to be at some distance from the center of the 7o conduit and out of the way of the cable-grip, as shown in full lines in Fig. l, and that when the change in power is otherwise ready to be made the manholes can be lifted and the supports moved forward and bolted in exactly the proper positions in a single night and during the time when the cars are ordinarily stopped, thus causing practically no linterruption of .traffic or calling for the temporary use of horses with the attending inconvenience and 8o loss.

` The special form of conductor and as to whetherV it is adapted for annnderrunning or side-contact shoe is immaterial to my invention, as either form .may be used in con- .nection therewith. y

What I claim isl. In a conduit-railwaya conductor-support' consisting of a base-plate attached to the foot of the slot-rail and capable of lateraladv9o justinent toward and from the center of the conduit anda slide attached theretonapable 'of longitudinal movement and carrying the electrical conductor.

2. In a conduit-railway, a slot-rail, a baseplate having a slot therein adjacent said rail, and means cooperating therewith whereby said plate may be moved toward or from the center of the conduit and secured to the slotrail in the desired position, said base-plate Ico carrying an elec-tric conductor. V-

MYRON D. LAIT.

Witnesses:

J. B. Bassum, L. VREELAND. 

